Came to the comments to recommend skirting of some sort to keep wind and cold air out. Creates a column of warmer radiation from the ground until it completely freezes. Also makes storage underneath more secure.
Skirt the cabin and use styrofoam insulation on the skirting. You should dig down and put styrofoam insulation down 2 feet and out from the wall if you can. You will get some ground heat that way. Bubble wrap has almost no insulation value. Research independent studies.
You should skirt the cabin so the wind can't move under it. That alone would probably do as much as this insulation. You can make panels that hinge on old door hinges so you can flip them up for storage access.
Agree. I skirted my cabin with the same material as my metal roof. I built a frame of treated lumber floating on the ground. Whitewood 16" on center with three access panels . 2" rigid insulation behind. WOW! What a difference!
I suppose it's possible, but my cabin is in the middle of the woods, and I have a lot of raccoons and opossum's and skunks. Not once has one dug under it or in any other way gotten into the crawl space.
Or...use the KISS method.. try the old fashion instant instalation...line the outer perimeter of building with fresh bales of hay, to act as wind, cold & critter barrier, as well as an outside heavy plastic acting as storm windows. With rubber-lined drapes holding heat inside...
You're awesome. I respect all your hard work. In my 40+ years of rolling around under stuff and working over head, I've found a "pillow" under my head helps tremendously. Usually is a piece of wood or an old coat stuffed under my head. Helps with the sore neck my brother! Good job.
If you ever wind up doing this under another deck or cabin - I'd suggest not bothering to cut off any nails from above. Just drop down a couple inches and staple it across, trapping an air pocket between the floor and your insulation. The air pocket will act as additional insulation.
I would go even further, and simply stretch one entire roll across multiple joists and staple it to the joists, creating large pockets of air in each joist space. You could even soak old cotton rags, blue jeans, t shirts in borax solution (for fireproofing), shred those, and stuff each joist gap with the cotton batting and then cover the entire underside with the bubble wrap or even thick plastic drop cloth.
You're talking about The Boss of the Swamp...he's a very wise man. Been watching him for many years now. I'm so excited for you to get a dog!!! ☺️ I love spending my Saturday mornings sipping coffee, relaxing and checking in on the worm. Take care.
@@phillipg7315 Haha right? The Boss has been doing this for so long he has his methods well dialed in. (I think I've seen him do 3 homesteads now?) I would love to see Ryan take his ideas and add the wild Ringworm/Yooper spin!
@@superiorbuds When I listen to the Boss I feel like I come away with a larger brain...he's very intuitive, wise.....experienced. Ryan has is own gig going, I appreciate his rogue style of building which is what people need to see if they're doubting their own abilities. He says it all the time, "You can and should do this, try it!" Both enjoyable TH-camrs. ☺️
Other ways to help with heat loss off the bottom... First, skirt the cabin. That will do a ton on its own. Second, you can still use rolled insulation, if you use some kind of nylon and/or wire mesh to hold it up there, for example. Not that you should do any of those, of course, but you could if you wanted to. Probably the XPS sheets on the floor will be more than enough, and it's not like you have any plumbing that needs to be kept above freezing.
The Boss (see vid he referenced)...suggests raised cabin with skirting complemented by more bubble wrap on inside...Boss of the Swamp; the bubble wrap cabin guru
AFTER THE BUBBLE WRAP INSTALL, ITS A MUST TO ENCLOSE THE CRAWL SPACE. IT WILL BE A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFRENCE. I DID THIS EXACT INSTALL ON MY CAMP LAST SPRING, AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY ON THE TEMP DIFFERENCE THIS WINTER. GOOD LUCK
Came here to say this, this is the way, as much depth as he has he could potentially run 2 more layers, one about half way from the floor, then the third at the bottom edge of the boards.
Used for duct wrap ductwork won't sweat in NJ attics in summer keeps cold out of attic ducts in winter ,I would use 4" foam boards then cover with duct wrap and make insulated skirting. Yes installing with air gap and 2cd layer helps .but following manufacturer specs is the way "real " pros build
Take it to the bottom of your floor Joyce. Then you'll have a dead ear space between the bubble wrap and your floor up a top and then that way you can wrap it on the outside edge of the rails on each end of the building. Just bring it over and down and then you just have to go down one side and then up the other side.
Looks nice Ryan, but that double bubble foil wrap is a radiant barrier, not insulation. you can quadruple the R value of it by trapping a 2" air space between two layers of it. however, that will only jump the R value from about 1.5 to about R6, but then you would actually have an insulating radiant barrier. You could easily test this theory by hanging another layer a couple inches below the current layer on one joist void and test how much difference the floor temp is in the run. Spring is arriving here in the SW LP, so not far behind for you.
As long as it has a air gap it works great. Air is the insulator. Bubble foil radiates the heat back up and the cold back down. It serves a double purpose. It’s well underrated. I preach this in our TH-cam channel Earthbound finding our roots. Off grid living.
2" air gap to floor, 1 layer bubble wrap =R6. Add 1 more layer with another 2" air gap = R21. Try it for 3 or 4 joists under the bed. The plastic you use for patterns would make good skirting. Insulated skirting is awesome, but just stopping the wind does wonders.
@@kevinmckinzie it’s not designed to retain heat. It’s a radiant heat barrier . It reflects it back. I’m not going to argue with you. We use it in our cabin and I wouldn’t go any other way. We have a block and pier foundation. Our floors were 65* when it was -30 below zero. And under the cabin never froze. As Boss says, proof is in the pudding.
The insulation idea makes so much sense and it looks great. Hang onto your little piece of tranquility and forget about going for an office job. Take care and be safe.
Thank you for your life! It's funny today that you would use this product, because I have it glued to my exterior cement walls to reflect the sun... It has worked very well to lower the inside of my house by 15 degrees. Like you I live outside 80% of my day...I live in Vietnam,but I have really enjoyed your winter... Cheers from Vietnam
Your channel is awesome Ryan! Big fan! I watch every Saturday when I get off work. I'm trying to move away from TH-cam due to all of their massive censorship. Here is to hoping you start uploading to rumble as well. Keep up the great videos. Just food for thought.
I've been wondering this same thing... I put the foil faced bubble wrap over the joists. Then, put the floor on top. I figured it was better than nothing!
My folks had an old icebox in one of our farms when I was very young (4). I remember the iceman coming by once a week with the block of ice for it. Worked fine for keeping the food cool.
The way you installed it will only really be an air barrier with maybe R1. You want a whole sheet nailed to the bottom of the floor joists. So it traps 5"+ of air between the floor and outside. You also want it as air tight as possible. Trapped air between the top and bottom of the floor joists would be at least R3 to R6. I'm an HVAC system designer and insulation is so important for comfort! As it's installed now it's an air barrier and a reflective barrier; that's a good start! Fill the floor joists with R30 insulation and then put another monolithic and sealed layer of reflective barrier or air barrier. Blocking airflow is just as important as Insulation.
Epic as always. I did think a solution to the fold out bed bowing might be storage boxes - hear me out. If you make them so that one way they fit under the bed, but turned the other way they’re just the right height to support the fold out, then less bowing. Yeah, you probably need mesh or a lid to keep the box contents inside, but that was a random thought I came up with
You’re the best bud! So much work, hope your ribs are ok after all that. Everyone has an opinion, you just keep doing you, that’s why we’re here in the first place. Looking forward to the first houseguest 🥰. Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
As others have mentioned skirting will greatly improve your cold floor situation. Stopping the wind under the cabin is a great help in this. An example is when your outside during the winter is it colder standing out in the wind or behind something that breaks the wind? Not hard to do. On these rim boards you can nail up a inch board along the lower edge. Where the rim doesn't have the joists it will be easy, on the rim where the joists are it will take a. Bit of work fitting around the joists. This will keep the raw edges of the rim boards. Now add 2x pieces on the inside of the boards you just added running down to the ground into a shallow trench deep enough so the bottom board can be back filled to seal out the wind. Thee pieces can be on 2 ft centers. Nail up boards on these 2x pieces to complete the skirting. Insulating this skirting will improve things even more. The 2x pieces on 2 ft centers you can add doors to access the underneath for storage and inspection for damage. During warm weather you can leave doors open for ventilation to dry out any build up of moisture underneath your cabin.
Thanks for trying this Ryan. You will be surprised how well it works. We used it in our cabin last fall and our cabin was warm all winter. I could walk barefoot on the floor all winter long. Radiant barrier foil works. Credit goes to JC, Boss of the swamp. 👍👍
Good stuff. I like the idea of adding skirting around the perimeter, but why not staple some heavier mil clear plastic to create an air pocket between the insulation and the added plastic would be cheap and not much more time to do it. Maybe do a test, staple plastic under one section and see if you get any better insulating from it. Oh, and build something you can rest you back/neck against while you’re doing this kind of work.
it will actually make a huge difference. not so much in R-value but it will stop the cold air from coming up through. i have a cabin that half was built with nothing in the floor and the other half has this stuff and its a big difference.
10 - 12 years ago there were a bunch of people trying to create YT channels in the Van life community. A small portion of them were misinformed on the use of mylar covered bubble wrap as insulation. These so-called van dwellers learned the hard way. All they did was build a giant Easy-Bake oven. You can use this stuff as a barrier, which is what it was designed for, but you can not expect bubble wrap to keep you warm.
@@silvursprings Exactly. Same reason he isn't skirting the cabin -- you're just giving raccoons and squirrels a warm place to hold up. They will chew through just about anything you put in place to try and stop them, too.
I saw Old Man In The Swamps video years back as well. When I built out my 10x20 Purple Tiny House I did the same as you and put between my bottom floor joist. I also wrapped the bubble foil behind my metal underpinning. When putting down the interior snap together floor I put silver foil down under it. I believe it made a huge difference. CVK
Bubble wrap is nice stuff. We use it to wrap our ductwork I think it's only rated r4 but with air space, I can go up to R6. It's great for a base insulation and you can always add to it later.👍👍👍 good job
Big fan I’d like to see ya build a pantry and also a stone or block cooking pit it’s a lot of work to put in but they last a life time cheers to spring
Boss of the swamp knows his stuff. Options are open for more insulation if you decide. Could use rigid foam and then some chicken wire to hold it up, or stick it up with fence staples? Or stick it up with the foam stuff?
Ryan, if you'd like to insulated with faced fiberglass rolls, you could easily suspend them between your joists with either poultry netting (chicken wire) or even Tyvek stapled to the irregular lower edges of the floor joists. If it were me, I'd probably use both. The Tyvek first to provide more of an air barrier and then the poultry netting to discourage the larger critters. The holes in the chicken wire would not be small enough to stop mice, voles, and even ground squirrels. To get that level of barrier, you'd have to use hardware cloth and that could get pricey.
You could use tyvek to hold up insulation and then skirt the cabin. We built our 28 by 30 addition and thats how we did it. Worked great. Love your cabin.
The bubble rap works really good if you leave an air gap between the floor and the bottom of the floor joists, I used on my garage ceiling and left a gap and cut the radiant heat and half when you have metal roof in Florida .
FYI, I installed 8" unfaced fiberglass insulation under a porch area in my house. The friction fit held the batts up against the floor but I insured aga9nst their drooping by stretching some mechanic's wire nailed to the joist bottom edges. It was an easy solution to keep the batts in place. I think you'll find that the foiled bubble wrap doesn't prevent a lot of heat loss. The best solution in your cabin may be to install foam board that is protected against rodent infestation. As mentioned, skirting would result in better heat retention.
Ryan if your worried about the middle of the bubble insulation drooping down get you some of those insulation rod supports for holding up insulation on floor joists, less then 20 buck for 100, that would solve the wind problem. I think the bubble strips will help a lot, great job 👏 Like other’s have said, skirt the cabin and it will make a huge difference! ✌🏼❤️🙏🏼
Hello Ryan I saw that you installed the bubble wrap insulation. Very nicely done. But the other cabins that had the bubble wrap insulation had Skirting To the ground around the perimeter of the cabin so there was no air flow underneath the floor. Thank you for your time from Bob Dawson.
enjoy your videos,keep up the good work.I would suggest to skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting like another person commmented and also would put down 6 mil plastic on the ground for moisture and freezing and storing whatever underneath the cabin.Peace
Great video. Watching you putting in that foil wrapped bubble wrap made me think that the right way to install it was exactly like you did it. Under the cabin gives me a vary off planet homesteader… ready for solar flares. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Ryan love the channel. Long time subscriber from wa state. My family were loggers, millwrights farmers and land barons. Grew up with Chainsaw work as a boy. Much respect for the mastery of the machine. Keep up the solid work. Next project needs to be a pole barn with metal roof and sides/ sliding doors for wood storage. setup a kiln with clear plastic and 2x4 setup 20’ long 4’ wide and 4’ tall air fan and small heater. Run off the jackery or generator for a few hours a day. Speed up your process/ cycle time for wood drying/ usage
Reflectix works better if it isn’t touching the surface…the radiant properties work instead of conduction heat loss. I know you just finished but it wouldn’t be too much hassle to move it down an inch. But I don’t have broken ribs so it’s easy for me to say. Also can add Tyvec onto the bottom of the joists and tape the seams and this will have a similar effect as skirting the cabin but you won’t see it unless you’re laying on the ground. It will block the wind which is undoubtedly getting behind the reflectix some. Also allows moisture to escape so you won’t have to worry about that element.
My apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice. Now.. I've never done this, but it sounds like it would work. Add the reinforced foil tape to edges, then add another layer of that wrap with a 1-2" spacing and tape all of that. The spacing offers its own R-value.
My husband and I had a cabin in northern British Columbia. Clean out underneath cabin, let ground dry out. Put down a plastic moisture barrier over ground and then skirt the cabin, in prebuilt panels with one serving as door on hinges. Insulation board stapled to inside of panels. Difference in warmth of floor and loss of heat was like night and day. Try it, you will be amazed. Cabin will be also cooler as well in hot summer days.
Ryan, sorry I haven’t been able to be online for a couple of weeks. I was hospitalized with blood clots and bypass surgery! Now to rehab! Sucks! Went back a rewatched this video. It appears to me that in a large portion of the floor joists you have space for another layer of the foam insulation as well as 1-2” of additional dead air space between the layers! The extra bubble wrap insulation w/foil backing and dead air space might give you an almost 10 degree rise in temperature at floor level! Here’s another thought! Siding! House trailers have their plumbing ran under the floor with ONLY siding and heat tape to protect critical joints! If it works for them it could work for your situation. BUT that would have the effect of more rodents trying to nest underneath the cabin! So I guess a second layer of the same insulation would work best! Hope that helps! ❤
You were amazing how you put that insulation up under the floor, and withstood all that discomfort, I'm so looking forward to seeing the next video! And please continue to take care of yourself, 😊👍💕💕💕
That bubble insulation with add R value, you can also add R19 insulation. Then put you nailer strips and add you scrap 1x on top of nailer to keep critters out. The bubble will act as your vapor barrier. Night and day difference.
One difference I see with his cabin is the skirting he has around the crawl space. That creates an air layer as well as the bubble foil under the floor boards. I wonder if that would help even more Ryan? Also I remember the builder Mike Holmes talking about using the 4x8 pink foam boards taped and seemed to form an air tight area when doing basements. Basically making an interior insulated foam cooler. He always said you could then heat the room with a candle. I know you would lose even more head space when doing the floor like that, but I think the benefits would out weigh the lose in interior height?
I did this on my cabin after I installed hydronic heating from under the sub-floor, a 4" airgap under the hydro, then fiberglass, then plastic sheeting. I put skirt around with plastic on the ground for vapor barrier. I can walk around in socks all winter long when it's -30F outside and howling wind (I'm on a lake and get the brunt of winter winds out of the west.)
Why not make some covers for the water buckets if you have some left after the man cave. Like beer koozies that keep the beer cool and your hand warm. They will just have the opposite effect and stop the sweating.
Man I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this works (if at all)! What I know about that foil is that it's very, very good at reflecting radiated heat. It should do pretty much nothing to convective heat loss (heat via contact), but I could see this bouncing some of that radiation back up into the wood board and keeping the floor a handful of degrees warmer. If you get 5 degrees out of this I'll be impressed, and I think that would probably be worth it.
Next project should be a "Barn" with a waterproof roof and semi open sides to dry your milled lumber in. Semi open sides allows the wind to blow through.
I have noticed on a few other cabin builds, that when they laid their floor frame & joists before they laid the floor on, they put in the length wise, wood support strips to rest the pink foam insulation boards on. Then they filled up the remained of the floor cavity with the paper lined insulation and then they laid the floor. Totally insulated floor from the build beginning.
Should have just done regular old insulation, then stapled a vapor barrier on the bottom. That would have been cheaper and talkin 2 hour to do. Then skirt the building, this stuff is good for the roof and summer as a radiant barrier. You could also staple fencing to keep the mice out
The wooden refrigerator you talk about reminded me of my grandmothers "ice box" that she used in rural northwestern montana. She stored ice blocks gathered in the winter in a root cellar and would use them in her ice box to keep food cold thru the warm months. I was maybe 10(66 now) and it was huge...
I more item , you should shirt the lower part of the cabin. It will help make the real difference on the inside temperature . I used the bubble wrap on my cabin and after I shirted it. It helped, but the bubble wrap made the real difference.
For the winter months, I use foam puzzle pads for the inside on the floors in Canadian winters and it helps. I take them out in the summer months. I also have bubble insulation under the camp, it works in -40c weather. My cabin is also skirted.
I see comments recommending skirting around your cabin. I would suggest that you just continue to follow the experience of The Boss of the Swamp. I just watched the video you referred to from The Boss of the Swamp and it is certainly working for him.
Seeing what the cabin is sitting on I recommend some structural connections between the posts it's sitting on to increase rigidity. Big winds at some point may cause you a big problem.....
Yes!! The super insulated wooden icebox fridge sounds amazing! 8 inches of good board insulation should do the trick. The more insulation and the more air tight the better!!
I absolutely love Refletix. I love winter camping. I throw some Reflectix on the snow then my Klymit. I stay cozy warm. It stops the convection and reflects your heat back at you. Started giving it to the homeless in my community and it has become a quality of life changer and saver. This stuff that Ryan is using is on the thinner side but it should work great.
When you first mentioned the bubble insulation the video from The Boss is the first thing that came to mind. I've also been waiting for the big snow week to show up in the vids, next week should be a fun video. 🤣 We picked up 30" in 7 days here lakeside in the EUP.
You have added a moisture trap under your floor. A perfect place for mold to grow. Dual moisture barriers, the house wrap allows moisture to settle down and not rise, then the foil will seal it in. With green wet wood and your propane producing moisture also.
Reflectics are popular in RV's/Vans too. Helps to keep temps cooler or warmer depending on the season. If you have extra you might try creating some for your windows if needed during extreme temperatures. (Maybe around cardboard or something sturdy)
This foil bubble wrap made all the difference in a 39 foot travel trailer we lived in year round in Phoenix Arizona. I put it in all the windows and the dome of the vents. Our air conditioner finally stayed ahead of the sweltering Summer heat. It would even shutoff for awhile during the day.
You have to create a few inch air gap between the floor joists and floor for that to be insulation. Trapped air is the key to making that work! Plus it can create an air barrier if you seal it all up with tape. It will help a little as it's installed right now, mostly as an air barrier and reflective barrier.
Good day Ryan … hey body , once you insulate the bottom … with your wood cutting talent , you could cut up some wood and boarder around the outside of your cabin … maybe put a bunch of hinges on them so they lift straight up or side to side with some nice handles .. and that would help keep your floor and the cabin even warmer …. And you can still store things underneath 👍🏆😁
My laugh for the day was genuine and from the gut. Scrolling through I think why is an astronaut cutting away insulation at the space station? Then I focused and saw the true meaning then I saw the name of the channel….. thanks!! 🙏🏻
Skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting, that’s how it works the best. Cabin is looking great Ryan nice job 👍
Came to the comments to recommend skirting of some sort to keep wind and cold air out. Creates a column of warmer radiation from the ground until it completely freezes. Also makes storage underneath more secure.
That's a good idea. It's all about spacing. Plus you'll get less moisture on the floor pieces.
Yeppers skirt the bottom. This stuff is amazing.
We used it on our cabin we built last fall. Boss of the swamp rocks.
⛔️ A ‘BIG,’ Astounding ‘YES on the refrigerator ⚠️ : J. ❤
Skirt the cabin and use styrofoam insulation on the skirting. You should dig down and put styrofoam insulation down 2 feet and out from the wall if you can. You will get some ground heat that way. Bubble wrap has almost no insulation value. Research independent studies.
You should skirt the cabin so the wind can't move under it. That alone would probably do as much as this insulation. You can make panels that hinge on old door hinges so you can flip them up for storage access.
Agree. I skirted my cabin with the same material as my metal roof. I built a frame of treated lumber floating on the ground. Whitewood 16" on center with three access panels . 2" rigid insulation behind. WOW! What a difference!
Another thing that skirting would do is, make a home for skunks, and raccoons.
I suppose it's possible, but my cabin is in the middle of the woods, and I have a lot of raccoons and opossum's and skunks. Not once has one dug under it or in any other way gotten into the crawl space.
Critters will make a home under it if it's closed off.
@@MrThenry1988 As long as they don’t do any harm critters aren’t a problem!
Thanks for posting early every week. Great way to wake up and have morning coffee. Keep doing what you’re doing!!
Thanks for sharing the Boss of the Swamp video! The key to his success was adding foil-insulated skirting. It created a warm zone under the structure.
Or...use the KISS method.. try the old fashion instant instalation...line the outer perimeter of building with fresh bales of hay, to act as wind, cold & critter barrier, as well as an outside heavy plastic acting as storm windows. With rubber-lined drapes holding heat inside...
The Boss of the Swamp is a pretty smart guy , I have been watching his channel longer then any other you tube channel.
You're awesome. I respect all your hard work. In my 40+ years of rolling around under stuff and working over head, I've found a "pillow" under my head helps tremendously. Usually is a piece of wood or an old coat stuffed under my head. Helps with the sore neck my brother! Good job.
If you ever wind up doing this under another deck or cabin - I'd suggest not bothering to cut off any nails from above. Just drop down a couple inches and staple it across, trapping an air pocket between the floor and your insulation. The air pocket will act as additional insulation.
But then the little critters once they find an entrance will live in there.
Critters or mold...take your pick.
Plastic afterwards
I would go even further, and simply stretch one entire roll across multiple joists and staple it to the joists, creating large pockets of air in each joist space. You could even soak old cotton rags, blue jeans, t shirts in borax solution (for fireproofing), shred those, and stuff each joist gap with the cotton batting and then cover the entire underside with the bubble wrap or even thick plastic drop cloth.
You're talking about The Boss of the Swamp...he's a very wise man. Been watching him for many years now. I'm so excited for you to get a dog!!! ☺️ I love spending my Saturday mornings sipping coffee, relaxing and checking in on the worm. Take care.
That’s exactly who I thought he was referring to as well! If Ryan taps into the Boss’s ideas and puts his own crazy spin on things - holy s***!
@@phillipg7315 Haha right? The Boss has been doing this for so long he has his methods well dialed in. (I think I've seen him do 3 homesteads now?) I would love to see Ryan take his ideas and add the wild Ringworm/Yooper spin!
@@superiorbuds When I listen to the Boss I feel like I come away with a larger brain...he's very intuitive, wise.....experienced. Ryan has is own gig going, I appreciate his rogue style of building which is what people need to see if they're doubting their own abilities. He says it all the time, "You can and should do this, try it!" Both enjoyable TH-camrs. ☺️
That will help a little, but skirting all around the cabin is much warmer. Especially if insulated as well.
It is easier to roll that out and then put subfloor on over it. Makes a huge difference on floor temps.
Other ways to help with heat loss off the bottom... First, skirt the cabin. That will do a ton on its own. Second, you can still use rolled insulation, if you use some kind of nylon and/or wire mesh to hold it up there, for example. Not that you should do any of those, of course, but you could if you wanted to. Probably the XPS sheets on the floor will be more than enough, and it's not like you have any plumbing that needs to be kept above freezing.
the downside of a skirt is that the enclosed space might attract critters like skunks.
The Boss (see vid he referenced)...suggests raised cabin with skirting complemented by more bubble wrap on inside...Boss of the Swamp; the bubble wrap cabin guru
AFTER THE BUBBLE WRAP INSTALL, ITS A MUST TO ENCLOSE THE CRAWL SPACE. IT WILL BE A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFRENCE. I DID THIS EXACT INSTALL ON MY CAMP LAST SPRING, AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY ON THE TEMP DIFFERENCE THIS WINTER. GOOD LUCK
It'd suck to do it all again, but if you put a 2nd layer and have roughly a 2" to 4" air gap between the two layers that should make a big difference.
Came here to say this, this is the way, as much depth as he has he could potentially run 2 more layers, one about half way from the floor, then the third at the bottom edge of the boards.
Tape seal the edges of the second layer also will help significantly.
Used for duct wrap ductwork won't sweat in NJ attics in summer keeps cold out of attic ducts in winter ,I would use 4" foam boards then cover with duct wrap and make insulated skirting. Yes installing with air gap and 2cd layer helps .but following manufacturer specs is the way "real " pros build
Take it to the bottom of your floor Joyce. Then you'll have a dead ear space between the bubble wrap and your floor up a top and then that way you can wrap it on the outside edge of the rails on each end of the building. Just bring it over and down and then you just have to go down one side and then up the other side.
Looks nice Ryan, but that double bubble foil wrap is a radiant barrier, not insulation. you can quadruple the R value of it by trapping a 2" air space between two layers of it. however, that will only jump the R value from about 1.5 to about R6, but then you would actually have an insulating radiant barrier. You could easily test this theory by hanging another layer a couple inches below the current layer on one joist void and test how much difference the floor temp is in the run. Spring is arriving here in the SW LP, so not far behind for you.
As long as it has a air gap it works great.
Air is the insulator.
Bubble foil radiates the heat back up and the cold back down.
It serves a double purpose.
It’s well underrated.
I preach this in our TH-cam channel Earthbound finding our roots.
Off grid living.
2" air gap to floor, 1 layer bubble wrap =R6. Add 1 more layer with another 2" air gap = R21.
Try it for 3 or 4 joists under the bed. The plastic you use for patterns would make good skirting. Insulated skirting is awesome, but just stopping the wind does wonders.
@@dubehigh Bubble wrap has zero insulative properties.
@@kevinmckinzie it’s not designed to retain heat.
It’s a radiant heat barrier .
It reflects it back.
I’m not going to argue with you.
We use it in our cabin and I wouldn’t go any other way.
We have a block and pier foundation.
Our floors were 65* when it was -30 below zero.
And under the cabin never froze.
As Boss says, proof is in the pudding.
@@dubehigh That's fine, don't argue, it would be a wise decision. Because bubble wrap is not insulation.
The insulation idea makes so much sense and it looks great. Hang onto your little piece of tranquility and forget about going for an office job. Take care and be safe.
Thank you for your life! It's funny today that you would use this product, because I have it glued to my exterior cement walls to reflect the sun... It has worked very well to lower the inside of my house by 15 degrees. Like you I live outside 80% of my day...I live in Vietnam,but I have really enjoyed your winter... Cheers from Vietnam
It does not seem that long from you starting this. Time flies when your having fun.
Looks great keep going. Everything will help the people that complain haven't been in your shoes.
My Saturday routine can now commence :)
Your channel is awesome Ryan! Big fan! I watch every Saturday when I get off work. I'm trying to move away from TH-cam due to all of their massive censorship. Here is to hoping you start uploading to rumble as well. Keep up the great videos. Just food for thought.
I've been wondering this same thing... I put the foil faced bubble wrap over the joists. Then, put the floor on top. I figured it was better than nothing!
My folks had an old icebox in one of our farms when I was very young (4). I remember the iceman coming by once a week with the block of ice for it. Worked fine for keeping the food cool.
The way you installed it will only really be an air barrier with maybe R1. You want a whole sheet nailed to the bottom of the floor joists. So it traps 5"+ of air between the floor and outside. You also want it as air tight as possible. Trapped air between the top and bottom of the floor joists would be at least R3 to R6. I'm an HVAC system designer and insulation is so important for comfort! As it's installed now it's an air barrier and a reflective barrier; that's a good start! Fill the floor joists with R30 insulation and then put another monolithic and sealed layer of reflective barrier or air barrier. Blocking airflow is just as important as Insulation.
Epic as always. I did think a solution to the fold out bed bowing might be storage boxes - hear me out. If you make them so that one way they fit under the bed, but turned the other way they’re just the right height to support the fold out, then less bowing. Yeah, you probably need mesh or a lid to keep the box contents inside, but that was a random thought I came up with
@My Cancer Journey Do whatever brings YOU Joy and Peace of Mind.
🌸 🌳
You’re the best bud! So much work, hope your ribs are ok after all that. Everyone has an opinion, you just keep doing you, that’s why we’re here in the first place. Looking forward to the first houseguest 🥰. Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
As others have mentioned skirting will greatly improve your cold floor situation. Stopping the wind under the cabin is a great help in this. An example is when your outside during the winter is it colder standing out in the wind or behind something that breaks the wind?
Not hard to do. On these rim boards you can nail up a inch board along the lower edge. Where the rim doesn't have the joists it will be easy, on the rim where the joists are it will take a. Bit of work fitting around the joists. This will keep the raw edges of the rim boards.
Now add 2x pieces on the inside of the boards you just added running down to the ground into a shallow trench deep enough so the bottom board can be back filled to seal out the wind. Thee pieces can be on 2 ft centers. Nail up boards on these 2x pieces to complete the skirting. Insulating this skirting will improve things even more.
The 2x pieces on 2 ft centers you can add doors to access the underneath for storage and inspection for damage. During warm weather you can leave doors open for ventilation to dry out any build up of moisture underneath your cabin.
Yep The Boss of the Swamp in my area uses this bubble foil in his cabin/house. He swears by it!
Never thought I would see the day where you were laying down on the job. Regards, Randy in Arizona (90+ degrees next week)
Hey Ring you should also skirt the cabin, will keep it warmer.
Thanks for trying this Ryan. You will be surprised how well it works. We used it in our cabin last fall and our cabin was warm all winter. I could walk barefoot on the floor all winter long.
Radiant barrier foil works.
Credit goes to JC, Boss of the swamp. 👍👍
Good stuff. I like the idea of adding skirting around the perimeter, but why not staple some heavier mil clear plastic to create an air pocket between the insulation and the added plastic would be cheap and not much more time to do it. Maybe do a test, staple plastic under one section and see if you get any better insulating from it. Oh, and build something you can rest you back/neck against while you’re doing this kind of work.
You are hilarious, always excited for saturday to come to watch the latest and greatest. keep up the amazing
it will actually make a huge difference. not so much in R-value but it will stop the cold air from coming up through. i have a cabin that half was built with nothing in the floor and the other half has this stuff and its a big difference.
10 - 12 years ago there were a bunch of people trying to create YT channels in the Van life community. A small portion of them were misinformed on the use of mylar covered bubble wrap as insulation. These so-called van dwellers learned the hard way. All they did was build a giant Easy-Bake oven. You can use this stuff as a barrier, which is what it was designed for, but you can not expect bubble wrap to keep you warm.
So what actually are you saying here? You seem to contradict yourself
Great job Ryan! I feel your pain. Neck & arms working under the cabin.
Appreciate the data as I’ve used the bubble foil in our cabin project. Lots of interesting info here.
where's your building winter skirt? Something you really need to make.
Run the reflexives on the bottom of the joists perpendicular You would add an air gap. You could suspend insulation that way also.
I thought that was what he had planned. Trapping air, cold air? I have no clue.
Seems right...but it creates a cavity for vermin.
@@silvursprings Exactly. Same reason he isn't skirting the cabin -- you're just giving raccoons and squirrels a warm place to hold up. They will chew through just about anything you put in place to try and stop them, too.
A space for vermin or not without an airspace this product is useless as its a radiant barrier not an insulation
Putting skirting around the bottom (outside) of the cabin should help some as well.
We used this on top of a cement porch floor that was unheated but enclosed. Made a huge difference, so it was a plus for us.
I saw Old Man In The Swamps video years back as well. When I built out my 10x20 Purple Tiny House I did the same as you and put between my bottom floor joist. I also wrapped the bubble foil behind my metal underpinning. When putting down the interior snap together floor I put silver foil down under it. I believe it made a huge difference. CVK
Bubble wrap is nice stuff. We use it to wrap our ductwork I think it's only rated r4 but with air space, I can go up to R6. It's great for a base insulation and you can always add to it later.👍👍👍 good job
Big fan I’d like to see ya build a pantry and also a stone or block cooking pit it’s a lot of work to put in but they last a life time cheers to spring
Boss of the swamp knows his stuff. Options are open for more insulation if you decide. Could use rigid foam and then some chicken wire to hold it up, or stick it up with fence staples? Or stick it up with the foam stuff?
Have a layer of double bubble and 3/4" foam with 1" pine siding on our cabin and it insulates pretty good!
Ryan, if you'd like to insulated with faced fiberglass rolls, you could easily suspend them between your joists with either poultry netting (chicken wire) or even Tyvek stapled to the irregular lower edges of the floor joists. If it were me, I'd probably use both. The Tyvek first to provide more of an air barrier and then the poultry netting to discourage the larger critters. The holes in the chicken wire would not be small enough to stop mice, voles, and even ground squirrels. To get that level of barrier, you'd have to use hardware cloth and that could get pricey.
You could use tyvek to hold up insulation and then skirt the cabin. We built our 28 by 30 addition and thats how we did it. Worked great. Love your cabin.
Love your doings! Thermal blankets work well. Pit Bulls are not fuzzy but they are protective and friendly to those they know! Ron PTL USA
The bubble rap works really good if you leave an air gap between the floor and the bottom of the floor joists, I used on my garage ceiling and left a gap and cut the radiant heat and half when you have metal roof in Florida .
FYI, I installed 8" unfaced fiberglass insulation under a porch area in my house. The friction fit held the batts up against the floor but I insured aga9nst their drooping by stretching some mechanic's wire nailed to the joist bottom edges. It was an easy solution to keep the batts in place. I think you'll find that the foiled bubble wrap doesn't prevent a lot of heat loss. The best solution in your cabin may be to install foam board that is protected against rodent infestation. As mentioned, skirting would result in better heat retention.
Ryan if your worried about the middle of the bubble insulation drooping down get you some of those insulation rod supports for holding up insulation on floor joists, less then 20 buck for 100, that would solve the wind problem. I think the bubble strips will help a lot, great job 👏 Like other’s have said, skirt the cabin and it will make a huge difference! ✌🏼❤️🙏🏼
Hello Ryan I saw that you installed the bubble wrap insulation. Very nicely done. But the other cabins that had the bubble wrap insulation had Skirting To the ground around the perimeter of the cabin so there was no air flow underneath the floor. Thank you for your time from Bob Dawson.
enjoy your videos,keep up the good work.I would suggest to skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting like another person commmented and also would put down 6 mil plastic on the ground for moisture and freezing and storing whatever underneath the cabin.Peace
A sauna would be a cool build for out there!
Great video. Watching you putting in that foil wrapped bubble wrap made me think that the right way to install it was exactly like you did it. Under the cabin gives me a vary off planet homesteader… ready for solar flares. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Ryan love the channel. Long time subscriber from wa state. My family were loggers, millwrights farmers and land barons. Grew up with Chainsaw work as a boy. Much respect for the mastery of the machine. Keep up the solid work. Next project needs to be a pole barn with metal roof and sides/ sliding doors for wood storage. setup a kiln with clear plastic and 2x4 setup 20’ long 4’ wide and 4’ tall air fan and small heater. Run off the jackery or generator for a few hours a day. Speed up your process/ cycle time for wood drying/ usage
Reflectix works better if it isn’t touching the surface…the radiant properties work instead of conduction heat loss. I know you just finished but it wouldn’t be too much hassle to move it down an inch. But I don’t have broken ribs so it’s easy for me to say.
Also can add Tyvec onto the bottom of the joists and tape the seams and this will have a similar effect as skirting the cabin but you won’t see it unless you’re laying on the ground. It will block the wind which is undoubtedly getting behind the reflectix some. Also allows moisture to escape so you won’t have to worry about that element.
You are making it work, thumbs up! You're as real as it gets my man, ..I can totally relate to your construction build experiences.
Your dry humer is hysterical…….love the natural look of the boards on the outside….huge puzzle look just fantastic……😎
My apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice. Now.. I've never done this, but it sounds like it would work. Add the reinforced foil tape to edges, then add another layer of that wrap with a 1-2" spacing and tape all of that. The spacing offers its own R-value.
You won’t be disappointed with that foil wrap insulation, if you saw the Swamp Boss video. Nice job! Love those shelves and the transformer bed!
You look fine.
Can't smell a thing.
Take care. Thanks for the Sat night entertainment in Australia.
Thanks Ryan always look forward to Saturday afternoons with my tea watching the latest updates on the cabin and whatever else you’ve been up to 🇬🇧🇬🇧
Time to build a hand rail for those gnarly steps 😇
My husband and I had a cabin in northern British Columbia. Clean out underneath cabin, let ground dry out. Put down a plastic moisture barrier over ground and then skirt the cabin, in prebuilt panels with one serving as door on hinges. Insulation board stapled to inside of panels. Difference in warmth of floor and loss of heat was like night and day. Try it, you will be amazed. Cabin will be also cooler as well in hot summer days.
Ryan, sorry I haven’t been able to be online for a couple of weeks. I was hospitalized with blood clots and bypass surgery! Now to rehab! Sucks!
Went back a rewatched this video. It appears to me that in a large portion of the floor joists you have space for another layer of the foam insulation as well as 1-2” of additional dead air space between the layers! The extra bubble wrap insulation w/foil backing and dead air space might give you an almost 10 degree rise in temperature at floor level!
Here’s another thought! Siding! House trailers have their plumbing ran under the floor with ONLY siding and heat tape to protect critical joints! If it works for them it could work for your situation. BUT that would have the effect of more rodents trying to nest underneath the cabin!
So I guess a second layer of the same insulation would work best! Hope that helps! ❤
You were amazing how you put that insulation up under the floor, and withstood all that discomfort, I'm so looking forward to seeing the next video! And please continue to take care of yourself, 😊👍💕💕💕
That bubble insulation with add R value, you can also add R19 insulation. Then put you nailer strips and add you scrap 1x on top of nailer to keep critters out. The bubble will act as your vapor barrier. Night and day difference.
Great job. Like others have mentioned tho, skirting the cabin in addition to the reflectix will make a world of difference. Keep up the great work.
Do a skirting around the crawl space and insulate it with the same bubble wrap. That's the Boss' idea.
Insulating just the floor won't do much.
One difference I see with his cabin is the skirting he has around the crawl space. That creates an air layer as well as the bubble foil under the floor boards. I wonder if that would help even more Ryan?
Also I remember the builder Mike Holmes talking about using the 4x8 pink foam boards taped and seemed to form an air tight area when doing basements. Basically making an interior insulated foam cooler. He always said you could then heat the room with a candle.
I know you would lose even more head space when doing the floor like that, but I think the benefits would out weigh the lose in interior height?
I did this on my cabin after I installed hydronic heating from under the sub-floor, a 4" airgap under the hydro, then fiberglass, then plastic sheeting. I put skirt around with plastic on the ground for vapor barrier. I can walk around in socks all winter long when it's -30F outside and howling wind (I'm on a lake and get the brunt of winter winds out of the west.)
Why not make some covers for the water buckets if you have some left after the man cave. Like beer koozies that keep the beer cool and your hand warm. They will just have the opposite effect and stop the sweating.
Man I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this works (if at all)! What I know about that foil is that it's very, very good at reflecting radiated heat. It should do pretty much nothing to convective heat loss (heat via contact), but I could see this bouncing some of that radiation back up into the wood board and keeping the floor a handful of degrees warmer. If you get 5 degrees out of this I'll be impressed, and I think that would probably be worth it.
You could still do the roll insulation on the under-floor and hold it in place with plastic netting stapled to the bottom of the floor joists.
Next project should be a "Barn" with a waterproof roof and semi open sides to dry your milled lumber in. Semi open sides allows the wind to blow through.
Love the refrigerator idea! Really interested in seeing it work!
It works great. Used it on my cabin floor in West Jersey.
Your very good at doing things the hard way!😂
I have noticed on a few other cabin builds, that when they laid their floor frame & joists before they laid the floor on, they put in the length wise, wood support strips to rest the pink foam insulation boards on. Then they filled up the remained of the floor cavity with the paper lined insulation and then they laid the floor. Totally insulated floor from the build beginning.
I think it will make a big difference! It does in our motorhome. We use it to on the windows!
Should have just done regular old insulation, then stapled a vapor barrier on the bottom. That would have been cheaper and talkin 2 hour to do. Then skirt the building, this stuff is good for the roof and summer as a radiant barrier. You could also staple fencing to keep the mice out
Plus if you closed in the ceiling that is going to make a huge difference as well, love ya man, awesome videos,
The wooden refrigerator you talk about reminded me of my grandmothers "ice box" that she used in rural northwestern montana. She stored ice blocks gathered in the winter in a root cellar and would use them in her ice box to keep food cold thru the warm months. I was maybe 10(66 now) and it was huge...
I more item , you should shirt the lower part of the cabin. It will help make the real difference on the inside temperature . I used the bubble wrap on my cabin and after I shirted it. It helped, but the bubble wrap made the real difference.
For the winter months, I use foam puzzle pads for the inside on the floors in Canadian winters and it helps. I take them out in the summer months. I also have bubble insulation under the camp, it works in -40c weather. My cabin is also skirted.
I see comments recommending skirting around your cabin. I would suggest that you just continue to follow the experience of The Boss of the Swamp. I just watched the video you referred to from The Boss of the Swamp and it is certainly working for him.
Seeing what the cabin is sitting on I recommend some structural connections between the posts it's sitting on to increase rigidity. Big winds at some point may cause you a big problem.....
Yes!! The super insulated wooden icebox fridge sounds amazing! 8 inches of good board insulation should do the trick. The more insulation and the more air tight the better!!
Now your cabin, from below, looks like a giant Easter Egg 😛Like it!
I absolutely love Refletix. I love winter camping. I throw some Reflectix on the snow then my Klymit. I stay cozy warm. It stops the convection and reflects your heat back at you. Started giving it to the homeless in my community and it has become a quality of life changer and saver.
This stuff that Ryan is using is on the thinner side but it should work great.
When you first mentioned the bubble insulation the video from The Boss is the first thing that came to mind.
I've also been waiting for the big snow week to show up in the vids, next week should be a fun video. 🤣 We picked up 30" in 7 days here lakeside in the EUP.
You have added a moisture trap under your floor. A perfect place for mold to grow. Dual moisture barriers, the house wrap allows moisture to settle down and not rise, then the foil will seal it in. With green wet wood and your propane producing moisture also.
Just sister 1x4 or 2x4 on the bottom of each floor joist and level the bottom out then insulate and cover !
Reflectics are popular in RV's/Vans too. Helps to keep temps cooler or warmer depending on the season. If you have extra you might try creating some for your windows if needed during extreme temperatures. (Maybe around cardboard or something sturdy)
This foil bubble wrap made all the difference in a 39 foot travel trailer we lived in year round in Phoenix Arizona. I put it in all the windows and the dome of the vents. Our air conditioner finally stayed ahead of the sweltering Summer heat. It would even shutoff for awhile during the day.
You have to create a few inch air gap between the floor joists and floor for that to be insulation. Trapped air is the key to making that work! Plus it can create an air barrier if you seal it all up with tape. It will help a little as it's installed right now, mostly as an air barrier and reflective barrier.
Good day Ryan … hey body , once you insulate the bottom … with your wood cutting talent , you could cut up some wood and boarder around the outside of your cabin … maybe put a bunch of hinges on them so they lift straight up or side to side with some nice handles .. and that would help keep your floor and the cabin even warmer …. And you can still store things underneath 👍🏆😁
My laugh for the day was genuine and from the gut.
Scrolling through I think why is an astronaut cutting away insulation at the space station? Then I focused and saw the true meaning then I saw the name of the channel….. thanks!! 🙏🏻
This is a project that I would do in late spring.